s advice and directive not to pursue independence through the united nations. and then avoiding direct negotiations with the state of israel. the most important strategic ally and friend the united states has in that region. but what are the consequences, or what would the consequences be to -- under a waiver to unesco, the body that actually voted in favor of the palestinians' request? i've got a couple of these, dr. rice.

the product of, we think, some very important and impressive and successful diplomacy by the united nations special representative martin kobler who with great sensitivity has negotiated arrangements and overseen this beginning of this transition of residents from ashraf to liberty. the united nations is in there monitoring the situation 24/7 and providing a degree of oversight and independent eyes and ears to ensure that the residents are treated in a manner that is acceptable and up to international standards. the unhrc, the high commissioner for human rights is beginning the process of screening those who may wish to move on and is doing that also in accordance with international standards of the sort that we respect and apply around the world. so this is an instance, sir, where a difficult problem we think has begun to be addressed and mitigated by the constructive involvement of the united nations. >> great, thank you. i think my time is almost up, but i'll respectfully again -- you and i have obviously agreed to disagree on the unesco thing. i for one think we need to shea lot more fi

morning to the president of the council, the american ambassador, as for the security regime of the united nations, mr. ban ki-moon. so we are on board officially speaking both through the capital, damascus, as well as through the permanent delegation of syria to the united nations represented by my... what we are suggesting is that mr. kofi annan since he is the mediator entrusted by the security council as well as by the secretary general and the so-called international community and since he got official written commitments from the syrian government so he should also get in touch with the other parties involved in this dramatic crisis we are going through. so that he will get similar commitments, similar guarantees that everybody will be on board of this mission in order to enable to him succeed. he is the one who should get back to the syrian authoritys with such guarantees because he is the one who committed himself to the syrian government that he will get in touch with the other parties. meaning armed groups as well as countries because the syrian crisis has-- if you allow me we can elabor

what to use bank of the united nations ? how can it be strengthened in terms of creating globalization that is more effective and more consistent with our constitutional system? >> i would say the united states has a love-hate relationship. we are one of the countries to help founded in the city of san francisco where we are meeting tonight. at the same time the united states has often in the area that the united nations is, perhaps, most discussed in this country, often used force abroad without the permission of the united nations since its founding. if you remember, there have only been a handful of times that the united nations has approved foreign conflicts, far short of the number of was the united states has actually been involved with since 1945. on the other hand the united nations has performed some very useful functions. sometimes we ignore when we criticize the united nations for restricting the united states ability to use force. the nato countries. for example, the united nations is a useful forum for the conduc

outrageous provocation, and we have to punish north korea, and we have to come up with additional united nations security council resolution, and we have to put more sanctions. and this might be politically popular way to go, but if you do -- if the united states decide to do this, north korea might actually decide to conduct another nuclear test. another option is that, after things get settled, the united states decide to actually talk to the north koreans and try to persuade north korea into the decision not to conduct another nuclear test. and so it's a lot of it will depend on the u.s. decision what to do. >> right. so in your opinion, will north korea conduct another nuclear test? >> well, we don't know. as i said, the u.s. response to this would be an important factor. now that the missile -- sorry. the rocket launch -- or what they call a rocket launch or missile launch has failed, there is increased domestic political need on the part of the north koreans to test a nuclear weapon in order to enhance their position both domestically and internationally. we have to wait and see, but the s

the united nation conference on environment and development in 1992 where i headed the united states delegation, the expectations for it were much greater than for rio +20. one cannot but feel the sense of meeting fatigue, of resignation, of lowered expectations going into rio +20. i think it's probably a good idea to lower expectations for a conference, frankly. there are some very specific things, however, and i just went through them i thought in a compelling way that can be achieved there. and it will advance the cause. perhaps not as dramatically as what was achieved and agreed 20 years ago, but nevertheless, effectively to continue the country, the world, the environment moving in a better direction. now what rio did, i have a number of really indelible memories of rio. i think one of my most compelling is of flying back from a meeting that i had had with president calor and three of his minute stores and laid out the terms under which i would support president bush attending the conference. president calor said heads of state were waiting to see if president bush was coming an

never have an international united nations conference during a presidential election year in the united states. well, we're doing it again, but somehow rio plus 19 or rio plus 21 doesn't quite do it. well, i started to talk about the compelling memory i have. it was flying back on prince charles' plane. i had met collor on "the brittan brittania" where i met prince charles and princess diana in the middle of the night leaning over to me and asking me if i would like to go back and watch "sleeping with the enemy" with her in the back of the plane, which i then did. that kind of blotted out a lot of the other less pleasant of the united states declining to commitment to timetables or having declined the biodiversity convention. who came out of -- what came out of rio 20 years ago was agenda 21, which i'm happy to say is now getting some salient, some prominence because the tea party has noticed it. they don't like it. they think it involves a secession of sovereignty in the united states. well, it basically is a litany of positive interventions, policies which have guided countless minist

china recently just days ago no the question is how can we abide by such a measure by under the united nations by the international community and as such i meant the you western union the western europeans let's say or the european community community and. their allies for sure the united states of america and other arab pan out of regional let's see enemy right now but they were friends to syria's national government i meant the qataris and the saudis for sure let us not forget the turkish also for which have not played positively enough the words the regime of president bashar assad and his own government inside syria today what about the fact that u.n. observers are in homs today there is a lull in the violence it's been one of the major syrian flashpoint is that really genuine authenticating a monitor to really getting an idea of what's happening there and indeed elsewhere in syria. i'm sure they already got enough stories or the numbers or statistics they have got photos through satellites and this is what the united nations should do before implementing such a measure by sending troops o

the united nations has given its formal backing to the peace put forward by the former u.n. chief kofi annan on thursday the united nations security council issued a statement on syria in which it pushes the syrian president bashar assad to it here to his commitments and then told the united nations that syria had pledged to cease all kind of movement towards population centers he also said that he was in contact with the opposition and urging them to stop financing at the same time he called for both sides can show political world now on tuesday also a united nations team alive in syria they will be weighing the groundwork for a observer mission which is to come and then also preparing the scene for the april tenth deadline now that is the deadline according to announce the plan we also know that following that they found it would be forty eight hours for the opposition to lay down arms with a final deadline being on april twelfth at six am now the syrian regime has indicated that it has already begun preparing the ground work for observing that deadline it says that it has

there is a tendency when they are not interested in major powers, they give them to the united nations or a situation where they cannot come to agreement, they give it to the united nations. these can be very difficult and not particularly good in terms of conduct. the un has been there for over a decade, and the circumstances in eastern congo are terrible. despite the fact that we have invested over $14 billion in the congo, you do not have a tangible effect on the improvement in people's lives, yet the u.n. peacekeeping mission is there. it is robust, and they cannot have a situation where the prosperous for normal life, the prospects for development are allowed. >> we have a few callers waiting to talk with both of you. we are talking with the fellow in international regulatory affairs at the heritage foundation and a former department of affairs defendant, and the associate director for the center of international cooperation at nyu. you are the manager of the european program with the center in london. let's go furs to the democratic line. a comment or question? >> we know the uni

fighting is continuing in syria, despite the united nations-brokered cease-fire that went into effect last week and the arrivalfnternational observers in the country. witnesses say the assad regime is still carrying out assaults in areas where anti-goveme relsrecte, but the united nations insists the fragile truce is still holding and remains intact. >>hiooge was purportedly shot this morning where an advance team of united nations observers was visiting. activists say dascus's campaign against dissidents claimed another 20 lives. the violence has concerned the internatna cmuty aut the observer mission's by ability, but united nations says the violence has become more sporadic, and they vowed to go ahead witthmiio the advance group's leader told reporters in terse words that his team was continuing to do its duty. bu team itself was also the target of protests according to activists. many people there seehe mission's prospects as dead on arrival. meanwhile, syria's foreign minister travel to beijing to meet with his chinese cotear cha has backed the peace plan laid out by united natio

support for and defense of israel in the united nations. and when it comes to unesco, look only at what israel is doing in its own interests. it is still voluntarily funding programs that it thinks are important. while we are not. >> ambassador, i have one question. we'll make another round, but you'll need to be concise in this to get to everyone. we're hearing reports that iraq may be facilitating arms shipments to syria to support the opposition, and so it's very disheartening. i would say what is the u.n. doing to investigate those allegations? and if they're found to be true and iraq really is in violation of its international obligations, what steps can we expect the u.n. to take? >> thank you, madam chairwoman. we have also heard such reports. they are of concern. we are certainly working assiduously to -- in communication with the iraqis and others to ensure that any shipments are not -- that they undertake their obligations to ensure that any shipments that may be transiting their territory are not in violation of u.n. sanctions. u

throughout the country not one specific area but the latest development of course is that the united nations the united nations security council is showing up consensus unanimously approving a struck the russian drafted resolution should bring a group of three hundred unarmed u.n. observers to syria for a period of ninety days. thanks very much indeed for that update in new york. the former syrian ambassador to turkey says despite cools from your position for military intervention good massacres will not allow a repeat of libya. what we are seeing is that the security council has been moving more and more towards russia's point of view and towards syrian principle in adopting a more balanced resolution and that's why there is a consensus so observers on the ground are doing their job the syrian government is facilitating the work but what got aunty's peace on the ground is not the mere presence of three hundred u.n. soldiers and officers what guarantees a peaceful end to the crisis is a goodwill gesture by the so-called opposition and their regional and international backers the so-called na

get the best of the rest of the news this week the united nations is hosting a major conference on happiness that's right with the world obsessed with wealth austerity and debt to g.d.p. levels the united nations is taking a step back to figure out what makes people in some nations way happier than people in other nations conferences hosted by the king of boot on a small country in the mountains which on is one of the poorest nations in the world yet it's the happiest nation in the world and one of the happiest in the world and so what does know that the rest of us don't well that's what the united nations wants to find out last night's show we talked a little bit about this topic by this sect in the nation of denmark which routinely tops the list of happiest nations on the planet take a look. so here we have denmark a nation that taxes at higher rates than we do in the united states gives basic health care and free education all its citizens hasn't sold their elections off you guys bitter doesn't place any importance on arming their citizens against each other isn't involved in any wars abr

russia and china can be important much later in the conflict. >> today, one other issue from the united nations -- susan rice, the u.s. ambassador said that time is running out for the united nations. kofi annan says what do you replace the plan with? it is words. >> it is words, and i think that is why we are heading towards action. the question is -- what will those actions be? the immediate step is to back the opposition, and the more medium to long-term debt is -- is military action feasible? if so, what kind? >> thank you for coming in. for months, republicans have engaged in a bruising fight to become their party as a candidate to unseat barack obama in november. today, the field shrank with the sudden exit of vix santorum. the former senator had become the most viable opponent to governor mitt romney, who is now all but certain to become the republican nominee. it is over. rick santorum went further in the race than anyone would have predicted, but now, he has called it quits. that we made a decision to get into the race at our kitchen table against all the odds, and we made a decision o

confinement for months before a trial found him guilty on all four charges one conspiring to kill united states nationals two conspiring to kill united states officers and employees three conspiring to use an acquire anti-aircraft missiles and for conspiring to provide material support to the far forty four year old russian air cargo business and fascinated hollywood one of our own for every twelve people. we questioned. and only on the other eleven who lost his case in the court of u.s. public opinion long before his trial kicked off raising concerns about the fairness of his trial this is the lord of war. the merchant of death right and you've got him in your hands or he's in custody it's a great feeling u.s. officials were relentless in their efforts to get behind bars the so-called merchant of death is now a federal inmate american agents posing as far members a colombian group terrorist in the u.s. but not by many other countries and the un met with and then arrested in thailand in two thousand and eight after twice being found not guilty by thai courts the west reportedly plea dirty arm twisting th

to date the united nations estimates the death toll from the crisis at 9,000. while other estimates put the death toll as high as 12,000. just over a year ago in the midst of the arab spring the syrian people peacefully took to the streets calling for the opportunity to elect their leadership through a free and fair democratic process. this desire for freedom and justice from an oppressive regime embodies the essence of what is driving the opposition, and is one that we can relate to and should support. the president has stated that the violence in syria must end and that assad must go. but it remains completely unclear how the president will accomplish these goals. in addition to the humanitarian concerns that i believe we all share, i'm very concerned about the implications for regional conflict. as recently as april 10, assad-backed military units shot across the border into syrian refugee camps in turkey, killing five individuals. additionally, violence has spilled into lebanon and iraq could begin to behave erratically as it considers the prospect of a sun

climate change a separate united nations mandated process of negotiation what is known as united nations framework convention on climate change. we had 18 negotiations last october. i have made this climate change number one priority on the agenda in addressing without addressing climate change as soon as possible like 2020, then we will be heading eight hitting point predator's in this slowly approaching threat through our world to our future. that's why i had been watching the member states to agree on globally binding comprehensive plan and change encouraging the last year of the states have agreed on a global binding treaty by 2015 and five more years following the ratification our target is by 2020 we will have an effective binding comprehensive climate treaty. that is our target. but the strong reaffirmation of the commitment of the united nations to address but we have to deal with many white water scarcity, food crisis, gender issues, global health, transport, all of these are important issues which we have to address a very comprehensively from a broad perspective for the future

why doesn't the united nations stop him? >> there's a system for documenting refugees and transforming them in shelter. turkey built two large container camps on the border. even these won't be enough if the numbers keep rising f that happens, the u.n. is expected to step in. >> our expectation is the promises given to mr. annan must be kept. it's essential operations should stop immediately, an army unit be withdrawn immediately. >> whatever syria promised, that withdrawal clearly is not happening yet. if anything bombardment of operation neighborhood has come fiercer of than any time in the year-long conflict. days before the deadline when all of this is supposed to start. jonathan head, bbc news, istanbul. >> meanwhile the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon has criticize the syrian government for pressing on attacks with -- for pressing on attacks on people who want president assad to stand down plfment ban said the use of the army should stop at once. security forces in bahrain have fired tear gas and water cannons to di

but washington -- and any othhr nations -- beeieve the launch was áactuallyá a long-range &pmiisile test.kim says: nortt korea's launnh is a clear violation of unitedo a prooocation hat threatens the peace and safety offtheekorean peninsula and northeast asia." pthe united nations ecurity council mmeting behind closed doors this morning.... to discuus the ramificationss of the actions.riceesays: "wee think it s important that the we will be working in that says: " the united states has already said t is ásuspendingá food aid to north korea, part of a deal made in &pkoreans were not supposed to launch any missiles. at the united nations, eric shaan, 3 &pdemocrrtic strategist hilary apology... after insuuting comment that romney had quote - "never worked a ddy in her life"... was not meant as a slam against stayyat-home mothers. 3 "being stay-at-homeemom ii a the home, not outside he home. she is lucky, though, that she hasschooce and she referred to thattherself. i admire tte way that she talks about her own life. many women &pdo not have the choice or the luxury of being a stay-at-home " mom."rosen's ccmment drew sharp criticism froo republicans an

discusses the role and effectiveness of the united nations and later, the congressional research service looks at the role of the 12th amendment in creating the electoral college which elects the president of united states. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning, sunday, april 29, 2012 and here are your headlines -- the republican primary is all but wrapped up by former speaker newt gingrich has reportedly delayed the date he will officially dropped out of the race. in washington, d.c. last night, it was the correspondence dinner, an event known as oscar night for politicians. we will get to all that and more but this week will mark the one- year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden. we want to know if you think the u.s. is set for today because of it. give us a call and let us know your thoughts. you can also send your comments via email and through facebook and director. a good morning to you. this week will mark the one-year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden and the headline in the "new york daily news" - that is from "the new york daily news" today. there

syria says it has started implementing a united nations- backed peace plan, which requires damascus to withdraw troops from towns and cities within a week and observe a ceasefire. forces are pulling back well ahead of schedule. >> the united nations says officials will be in syria in two days to monitor the truce. damascus has agreed to withdraw its military by april 10. right now, though, the situation remains volatile while. >> the violence continues despite the government's promise to continue pulling the army out of towns. these videos posted online today claim to show homs. they cannot be verified. the syrian government is still strictly controlling journalists' access. president assad says he will stop -- start pulling troops back from cities, and the process will be complete by april 10. but the opposition are highly skeptical. >> the government of syria is really honest, and this really play to way to implement the plan, why not stop firing now? if they are serious and honest about it, they will stop killing the people. >> despite international condemnation, there is no sign of

te nato, and qatar everyday at the united nations.the fact that in your the two.inn and sye weapons. we shouldn't ignore these facts. jordanian customsn together i this is item something saudi ris i'm not saying that wef th arabe >> it syria. ige revenue for yourent of syria, can survive tournament. he's poised to contecause of what i said at the beginning, there are three dimensions of the cry us. the arab dimension, government may be suppti people, the syrian peoplehat the young south righ f has a ph.nda.came here, tey u coou'nsider in the trees a lot. he and the time secular state, strengthening of human rights in syria? this is wrong. >> rose: that's not apoetoll dom championship ges on in saudi ars a question to be examined inal e of the changes by force, by the nato, and qatar inaudi arabia ar e killing 150,000 li the conversation witu the clock calling eo me at this table. so qatar isn't working for an arab agenda. has havright nowmoney anded 65nt're he one of them in their entirety clockh to mislead and about wha the i'm not s

in the united nations and other. international organizations the arabs and the muslims unfortunately have these sort of magical jordi so no matter what the past would be against us but in real terms when it comes to trade science cooperation investments. by electronic visits we are not isolated quite the contrary you've lost egypt and turkey as close allies well this is something that has to be looked through the internal situations. turkey i'm not sure it's a matter of turkey's really it's a matter of turkey. and the international community where it is in the future because it's going to move towards. west or east how are you going to cope with the islamization of wealth africa and the middle east where this is something that has to be done not by us but more and mostly by the societies which are going to serve . and the other international community members. do you feel that western nations involvement in the revolutions in egypt and libya have created problems for israel well it's created problems for the entire o

national policy. ishihara returned from the united states on thursday. while in washington he says the tokyo government plans to purchase the privately owned senkaku islands in the east china sea. >> translator: the japanese government should be more vocal about its sovereignty over the islands. if the government steps up and underscores its territorial rights, tokyo will withdraw its offer. >> the senkaku islands are administered by japan and claimed by china and taiwan. ishihara's government plans to purchase the islands next april after a rental agreement between the central government and island's owner. >>> china's government is drawing the animosity of its neighbors. chinese officials are making efforts to boost their tro territorial claims over international waters. the state oceanic administration aflounce ennounced a plan to pr their environments. it classified a special category of islands serving as markers for territorial waters as being crucial for defense. chinese officials will bolster their claims over these islands by installing navigati